Champions of Beacon
by Kuribayashi
Summary: The members of team Platinum (PLTM) attend their very first Vytal Festival Tournament as spectators; unbeknownst to them, they are about to witness a select group of Beacon students' rise to fame as they go head-to-head with some of the toughest students from the other three Kingdoms of Mistral, Vacuo, and Atlas.
1. The Dragon & The Cobra

Chapter One

A tuft of cotton candy hit Marcel Kaiser in the face as he was dragged through the horde of people that were crammed in front of the snack stands.

"Hurry, Marcel!" Pascal Lappiere called out loudly over the cries of the cashiers. "The first match is about to start in a few minutes!"

Marcel groaned with annoyance and flicked the piece of candy away from his cheek as he allowed his leader to pull him through the masses of people as if he weighed nothing. The blonde-haired jerk with the stupid blue eyes was his partner and the leader of Team _PLTM._ An energetic womanizer, Pascal always had a way with words. While his leader's charm usually didn't work on him, the inclusion of blackmail forced him to give up sleeping in that Saturday morning.

As they finally made their way out of the sea of people, the pair quickly entered a dark tunnel. The further they went, the brighter the light at the end got, and the sound of cheers grew louder. He shielded his eyes as the bright sunlight stung his eyes. The return of the cool morning's breeze against his face signaled that they were outside again. As his tired eyes adjusted to the bright light, Marcel felt an arm over his shoulder.

"What do you think, my friend?" Pascal asked in his silly accent.

Marcel's eyes widened as he took in the stadium's architecture. While he had seen pictures of it in brochures and posters around campus in the weeks leading up to that day, seeing it in person was completely different. Dozens of rows of ascending stone seats circled around the one-acre dueling field while two airships hovered above with multiple large television screens with various information ranging from the time remaining before the tournament started and a list of the students participating. "Whoa," was all that came out as he turned to see the stadium in all its glory.

Pascal flashed his blue eyes towards Marcel. "Are you glad to have come now?" he asked cheerfully.

Marcel cleared his throat and forced a yawn. "Nah."

Pascal chuckled."Oh, Marcel! Didn't your mother tell you not to lie?" Before he even got to reply, a silly grin broke across the blonde's face. "Too late!" the latter sang as he yanked the former's hand once more. They soon arrived to row B, which was the second closest row to the action. Right in the middle row sat two black-haired girls. On their right were two empty seats. "Pardon us, please," he heard Pascal say as they brushed their way past the seated spectators. Most of them were students, but there were also a fair amount of non-students. Popcorn and soda in hand, they seemed eager for the competition to begin. "Lilly, Tamako, we're here!"

"Hey Pascal!" the girl on the left said. "You're just in time, the first match is about to start!" She then looked to Marcel and grinned. "Got enough of your beauty sleep, Marcel?" The thought of his warm bed made him yawn. "Clearly not enough," she said with a giggle. The jokester was Lilly Zhao, the strongest member in their team. While she could be intimidating with her demonic red eyes, she looked rather at-ease today. It was probably because she had let her hair down over her shoulders instead of keeping it in a ponytail like she usually did. And the fact that she wasn't yielding _Dragon Punisher_, her weapon of choice which happened to be a freakish hybrid of a Guandao blade and a 50mm cannon. While she excelled in brute strength and technique, she struggled to keep a level head during combat, as revealed during initiation. As a result, Pascal was given the position of leader over Lilly, not for his skills in combat, but his excellence in decision making and calm demeanor.

"Hey, down in front!" someone's voice said angrily from behind.

Pascal nodded in the direction where the complain came from and quickly went to the seat next to Tamako, the girl who sat on the right of Lilly. She quickly shifted one seat to the right and patted the seat in which she just sat in. "Oh, you want to sit next to Marcel?" Pascal asked. She nodded. "Haha, okay."

Marcel took his seat to Tamako's right and smiled at her. "Morning, Tamako."

The girl nodded with a small smile as she played with the bangs that covered her green eyes. She was Tamako Matano, the team's unbelievably quiet third member. While physically weak as an individual, she excelled as a support. Also unlike Lilly, Tamako was the opposite of intimidating. She liked to wear clothes that seemed to be one size too big which made her look absolutely harmless. Today was no different. A large pink sweater loosely covered most of her petite body.

Marcel blinked when a bag of popcorn was pushed towards him. Seeming out of nowhere, the mage had produced a large bag of buttered popcorn. As the smell of butter reached his nose his stomach growled. He took a kernel and popped it into his mouth. "Thanks. I didn't get to eat breakfast, so I guess this is my meal-" The blast of a trumpet's fanfare interrupted him and made her jump in her seat and cling to him.

"Good afternoon spectators!" Professor Oobleck's energetic voice boomed from the speakers fixed to the airships and the stadium. There was a loud slurping sound. "How is everyone doing this fine, beautiful day?"

"Delighted!" Pascal declared as he struck a ridiculous pose.

"Good," Lilly said a small smile.

"_Hungry_," Marcel mumbled as he glared towards Pascal who stuck his tongue back at him.

Tamako tugged on his sleeve and simply waved at the airship.

"Today you are here for the annual Vytal Festival Tournament, where students will duel one another in a friendly competition to showcase the strength and skill of the next generation of Remnant's future Huntsmen and Huntresses!"

"Thank you Professor Oobleck," Headmaster Ozpin said curtly as his voice filled the stadium. "The matches today will be assigned by random selection." Two lists of names appeared on the large black screens with the names of the students who were participating. "The list on the left of the screen contains students representing Vale and Vacuo, and the list on the right contains the names of students from representing Atlas and Mistral." After a short beep, the two lists began to spin in opposite directions. The crowd let out an _ooh_ as the first list slowed and stopped in place. _Beep!_ "Yang Xiao Long!"

Marcel swallowed and grabbed another handful of popcorn. "Do any of you know that is?" He looked over to his leader.

Pascal shook his head. "I don't think so. Lilly, Tamako? Do you two know her?"

"No, can't say that I do," Lilly said while she scratched her head. Tamako shook her head.

A small circle opened in the far left corner of the stadium where an elevated platform brought up the first contestant. The crowd went wild as the gold-haired student hopped off the platform and began walking over to the center of the stadium. "Whoah," Marcel breathed. She wore bright yellow gauntlets around her wrists as well as belts of ammunition around her waist. Her outfit consisted of a tan vest, black shorts that stopped at her thighs, and boots of the same color as her vest. After she arrived at the center of the stadium, a camera did a quick zoom-in on her face. The girl had light tanned skin, which contrasted greatly with her violet eyes. She winked and blew a kiss at the camera.

Pascal jumped up and pulled a foldable telescope out of his pocket. "Incredible! I have not seen such beauty in all of my-"

Lilly yanked him back down. "Stay in your seat," she hissed at him. Marcel laughed. It was infinitely entertaining to see Lilly's response whenever Pascal expressed the least bit of interest in another girl. "Quiet, you!"

He popped another kernel in his mouth. "Yeah, yeah."

_Beep! _The second list had stopped "Mordecai Rathburn!" Soon the elevated platform on the other side lifted up to reveal the second contestant. He was a tall, lean boy, dressed in steel-colored shorts and a tank top. He too, was somewhat dark-skinned, more so than Yang. On his head he wore a hat with one corner pinned to the side of his hat. In his arms he held a weapon that resembled a cross bow.

Some shuffling and grunts were heard through the speakers as the microphone was handed to someone else yet again. It was Professor Port. The crowd snickered as they heard Glynda Goodwitch sigh with exasperation in the background. "Ladies and Gentlemen, in this corner representing the Kingdom of Vale, we have the beautiful first year, Yang Xiao Long of Team RWBY!" The gold-haired girl covered her face in embarrassment as the Professor made a clicking sound with his tongue.

"I'm pretty sure that's against school rules," Lilly said with a look of disgust on her face.

Tamako nodded as she continued to toss popcorn into Marcel's mouth.

"And in this corner, representing the Kingdom of Mistral, we have second year Mordecai Rathburn, leader of Team MAYA!" A small microphone appeared out of the ground between the two contestants. "Is there anything you two would like to say before the match begins?"

The boy motioned for Yang to go first. She grabbed the mic and smiled devilishly. "I hope you're ready for a little up close and personal."

"Ho-ho!" Professor Port commented. "Sounds like a challenge to me!" She tossed the mic to Mordecai, who caught it with his free hand.

"Crap, I feel like backing out already," he joked with a smile. Marcel chuckled as the tall boy put the mic back on the stand as it disappeared back underneath the stadium's floor.

"My goodness, that attitude sounds awfully familiar!" Lilly said in a sarcastic voice as she looked Marcel dead in the eye. "You wouldn't know of anyone like that, would you?"

Marcel gave her the finger, resulting in Pascal snickering, Lilly rolling her eyes, and Tamako desperately trying to push his finger back down.

"Now," Professor Port continued, "I will remind you two of the rules! This is a friendly competition with your fellow peers and classmates! Your intent is to only incapacitate or disable your opponent from continuing to fight. If your competitor verbally or physically signals that they have yielded, you must stop at once, or else there will be immediate staff intervention along with you being disqualified. If knocked to the floor, you must get up within ten seconds or else you're out! And finally, the match caps off at ten minutes. Anything longer than that results in a tie. Now are there any questions?" Both of the contestants shook their heads.

"Who do you think is going to win?" Pascal asked as he studied the two competitors.

Lilly pointed to Yang. "My money's on her. The boy looks too flimsy."

Marcel shrugged. "I don't know, I think I'll go with her as well. She seems pretty confident. How about you, Tamako?" She nodded. With a sigh, he poked her cheek which made them redden. "Are you just going to keep on agreeing with me?" The green-eyed girl only nodded again. "I swear, you're going to be the death of me," he responded with a smile. Tamako blinked twice before grabbing Marcel's hand. He poked her cheek again and smirked."Relax. It was a joke." Tamako puffed her cheeks as she glared at him. She then dug her hand into the bag and pelted him with an un-popped kernel. "H-Hey!"

Lilly waved at Marcel without taking her eyes off the two contestants."Knock it off, lovebirds. It's beginning!"

As the timer counted down from ten seconds, the contestants checked their weapons. Yang shadowboxed while Mordecai trotted in place.

..._3-2-1._ "BEGIN!"

Yang immediately punched forwards, launching an aggressive salvo of projectiles towards Mordecai who easily jumped backwards and shot them mid-air with his weapon. Marcel looked up to one of the airship's massive monitors to see the competitor's weapons displayed. Yang's weapons, named _Ember Celica,_ were _Dual-Ranged Shot Gauntlets_. On the other hand, Mordecai's weapon was named _Cobra Stryker_. It was classified as an _Automatic Chambered Cross-Gun._ Marcel had heard in previous years that the announcers would tell the competitors what kind of weapon their opponent wielded, but it seemed that they now withheld that information and only displayed it to the spectators. It was up to the competitor to guess what his or her opponent's weapon was and what it could do.

Marcel quickly turned his attention back to the fight. Yang cocked her gauntlets again and dashed towards Mordecai, side stepping the barrage of bolts he shot towards her while answering back with a salvo of her own. As she got closer to him, the camera zoomed in on Mordecai's hands as he pushed a button on his weapon. The chamber in between quickly rotated and locked in place. He aimed down his iron sights and fired, full automatic again; immediately large blasts of debris shot up from where the bolts landed.

"Clever. Those bolts are dust infused," Lilly commented.

Marcel rubbed his chin. He definitely had seen that kind of mechanism on a weapon before. A few seconds passed before he snapped his fingers. There was a girl in his history class with Professor Oobleck who wielded a sword-like weapon that also operated on a revolving chamber system. The girl's name eluded him, but it definitely connected the two together.

Yang punched the ground, creating a blast of debris while launching herself in the air. Mordecai barely managed to jump out of the way as she brought down her entire weight on the area where he stood floor, causing an even bigger dust cloud. Marcel noticed the frown on Mordecai's face as he tried to distance himself away from Yang, who still managed to close the distance between the two seemingly without much effort.

"I see, I guess he was telling us the truth in a way," Lilly said with amusement.

"What do you mean?" Marcel asked.

Her fiery gaze met his. "Remember what Mordecai said right before the match started?"

He remembered. The archer joked that he wanted to back out after Yang had said that she preferred and obviously excelled at close quarters combat.

"See, aren't you glad Lilly got you that extra ticket in her combat training class?" Pascal interrupted without taking his eyes off of the action. "_We_ as a team can learn a thing or two from watching our fellow peers fight."

As much as he wanted to disregard Pascal's comment, he had to take it seriously because he knew that his leader was right. Lazy as he was, he was still at Beacon for a reason, and that was become an official Huntsman. He had people he needed to protect.

Back in the right side of the stadium, Yang had yet again caught up to Mordecai and was busy firing off rounds towards Mordecai at point-blank range. Impressively, the boy managed to deflect them with his cross-gun, but he was losing ground, and fast.

When they were only a few feet apart, the shells finally found their target. The boy's orange-colored Aura soon illuminated as he failed to evade more and more of Yang's attacks. He swung his cross-gun at her and followed up in quick succession with a roundhouse kick. She managed to dodge the first strike but took a direct hit to the gut from the kick which forced her back a few feet. Mordecai took this as a chance to reload his weapon as he clutched his chest where he had taken a direct hit. A small dark dot appeared to spread over the boy's tank top. He was bleeding. With a smirk on her face, she punched her fists together, sending outwards a shockwave.

Her pupils turned red and the aura around her seemed to have skyrocketed to an insane amount. Lilly quickly unfolded her arms and leaned forwards in her seat at the sight. "Red eyes..."

"It looks as if Yang has decided to pool into her aura reserves for her next attacks!" Professor Port announced excitedly.

Before Port could even finish his sentence, Yang was already closing in on Mordecai, launching a flurry of projectiles towards the wounded archer. He managed to jump out of the way and reload his weapon before charging towards Yang. Gauntlets and cross-gun made direct contact with another, resulting in a loud clang as steel collided against steel.

There they stood. Shoulders rising and falling as they gasped for air. Crooked smiles on their faces as they acknowledged one another's power. Fingers twitching as they dared the other to make the first move. An eerie wave of silence washed over the stadium as thousands of spectators sat on the edge of their seats as Yang Xiao Long of Vale and Mordecai Rathburn of Mistral stared at one another with fire in their eyes. Then, it happened.

The two of them let out a thunderous war cry as they drew their weapons back. Yang winded both arms far behind her shoulders as Mordecai placed both hands on his cross-gun and pressed a small switch with his pinky. The Valean and the Mistralan's weapons collided with one another yet again in a flash. Marcel struggled to keep up with the insanely fast movements of both Yang and Mordecai as the two engaged in a gun-kata battle where both opponents blocked blows, redirected shots, and punished one another's bodies. Marcel felt the stadium's floor rumble from the shockwaves caused by the dust-infused bolts and shells as they impacted across the stadium floor. He could even feel it reverberate within his body.

A different screen on the airship did a slow pan across the part of the stadium that was dedicated to people from Mistral. Marcel spotted dozens of students waving large flags with the Mistral imperial coat of arms. Many others were adorned in the colors of their kingdom, whether it was face paint or their choice of clothing. He could faintly hear the sound of Mordecai's name being chanted as the people of Mistral cheered their representative on.

"This has to be one of the most exciting fights I've seen in years!" Professor Port's voice boomed ecstatically from above.

All visibility was soon lost as Yang's shells and Mordecai's bolts detonated all around them from misses or from deflection. As the dust cloud grew even bigger, they could only be seen by their silhouettes that were made visible only when the red flashes of_ Ember Celica's _shells and _Cobra Stryker's _bolts exploded on impact against the stadium's floor.

"Holy crap," Marcel muttered in as Tamako, Lilly, and Pascal looked on in awe at the fight.

A few more seconds passed, when all of a sudden, a figure flew out of the dust cloud and landed on the sand with a thud where it continued to skid for a few more feet before coming to a complete stop. It was Mordecai. A rapid zoom-in of the Mistralan revealed him to be covered in what appeared to be soot. Actual smoke was seen rising from the student's charred clothes. He quickly jumped back to his feet as soon as the electronic counter was heard, but dropped to a single knee and clutched his chest as he began to cough out blood onto the stadium's peach-colored sand.

Yang soon emerged from the cloud of smoke and expelled the spent shells from her gauntlets as she tossed two clips of ammunition into the air and caught them in her gauntlets as they locked into place. Like Mordecai, she too had injuries of her own. There were numerous cuts and bruises over her face and body as well as chunks of her outfit that were burned away by the gun-kata battle.

Professor Port cleared his voice. "It looks like both Mordecai and Yang have taken quite the beating! Who will prevail?"

More blood spurted out of the Mordecai's mouth, but this time he merely wiped it away with his wrist. With cross-gun in his left hand, he removed his hat with his right hand and dropped it beside him. He had short, black, spiky hair.

Yang brought her fists up in a defensive manner as he did so. Her eyes darted back and forth from between the hat to him.

The Mistralan smiled and pushed another button on the cross-gun. Instead of revolving the chambers like it did the previous time, the entire weapon separated and folded into two separate hook swords. He then jettisoned the two large clips of ammunition from the sword's sides.

"He's getting rid of excess weight," Pascal said quietly.

There was a quick replay of the transformation as a wave of _oohs_ and _aahs_ filled the stadium. While most students themselves had weapons that could easily transform from one form to the other, it was always exciting to see the imagination of another student.

The display then changed to a camera that did a zoom in on Yang's reaction during Mordecai's weapon's transformation. Her eyes widened the slightest bit with surprise as she looked upon the sharp, hook blades. With a cry in an unrecognizable language, Mordecai bolted towards Yang who did the same.

It didn't look good for the former. While he had made his weapons lighter, his movements were still slower and sluggish compared to Yang. She on the other hand, only increased the speed of her attacks. While it was now known that Mordecai preferred to fight at a farther distance, he still knew how to fight close range, as expected. The Mistralan managed to land a few more hits to Yang's torso and knees as his opponent adapted to the new weapons. He even managed to get his right sword's hook into the wedge between Yang's right gauntlets and her hand, only for her to break free before he could pull them off of her.

"Too slow," Lilly muttered as she bit the nail of her thumb. "He could have disarmed her right there and then." Pascal folded his arms and mumbled in agreement.

Marcel did the same. It was a wasted opportunity.

Mordecai's counters began to come too late as Yang drove him backwards, landing punches against him that forced him to skid across the sand. A series of consecutive hits to the shoulders forced his arms to drop to his sides. Yang then finished with a haymaker directly to his stomach, sending him stumbling backwards with his eyes struggling to stay open. The Mistralan blinked a few times, fell to his knees, and collapsed flat onto his face. Yang stepped backward, but still retained her defensive stance as an electronic counter counted to ten.

..._8-9-10. _"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner to this year's very first match! Please give a round of applause for Team RWBY's Yang Xiao Long!"

Marcel and his team clapped as they watched Yang fetch Mordecai's hat and rest it on his stomach before a team of medics arrived to carry him away. Three boys quickly hopped over the stadium's guard to accompany the boy off to presumably the medical ward where he would be treated immediately for his wounds. They were probably the other members of team MAYA. Yang waved to the crowd and struck some poses as a handful of the photographers covering the tournament feverishly snapped pictures of her before walking off to the sidelines, where she was treated by waiting medics for the light wounds she received from the fight.

"She's got good sportsmanship, I'll give her that." Lilly looked unimpressed.

"That's all you're going to say?" Pascal said as he pulled on his hair. "She's powerful, strong, and beau-"

She grabbed him by his shirt's collar."That's enough now, dear leader," Lilly said with a twitching eye. "I could easily take her."

"Oh really now?" Marcel asked as he dug his hand into the bag of popcorn in Tamako's bag. "Do you really think that? Or is it because you couldn't participate in the tournament this year?"

Lilly balled her right hand in a fist and waved it menacingly at him. "If I wasn't for my sprained ankle, I would have signed up within a heartbeat!"

"Pfft, fat chance!"

Tamako retreated in her sweater as Lilly brought her fists down on Marcel's head while Pascal laughed until there were tears in his eyes.

Despite missing breakfast and getting beaten on by the strongest member in his team, Marcel couldn't help but smile.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**(I accidentally deleted the original CH. 1 of this story while attempting to upload an edited version. I apologize for any confusion.)**

Wow, you made it! Thank you for reading this story. This is a side project I decided to do, and it actually came to mind when I was writing **Doki Doki**. Anyways, this is my first story with a predominantly OC cast, so here is a little information about them and why I made them the way they are:

**_Team Platinum (PLTM)_**

Pascal Lappiere (m) "French" background

Lilly Zhao (f) "Chinese" background

Tamako Matano (f) "Japanese" background

Marcel Kaiser (m) "German" Background

So for this cast, I made them allude to of French, Chinese, Japanese, and German heritage, because I hope to learn the languages of these countries one day. I also tried to follow Monty Oum's OC color rule as best as I could.

**_Team Maya (MAYA)_**

Modecai Rathburn was heavily influenced by the character "Kai" from the Nexon game _Vindictus. _I had him created under the intention that he was supposed to allude to being of "Australian" decent. When drafting up Mordecai, or Yang's first opponent, I wanted to make her fight someone who wasn't a complete hot-head like her. Her opponents like Junior or the Malachite twins were very confident in their abilities to defeat Yang, so I wanted the opponent who was just kind of like an 'average joe.' Mordecai, while not as skilled as Yang, is still an exceptional fighter. He's modest, has a sense of humor, and does not give off a sense of superiority. He's one of the ideal Huntsman that others should strive towards, in my opinion.

**As always, please leave a review: anything and everything helps!**


	2. Contemporary & Antiquity

Chapter Two

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Professor Port's voice boomed from the airship's massive speakers, "I present to you, the second match!"

Perhaps in anticipation, the crowd erupted into another frenzied cheer before the Professor could even finish his sentence. Lilly withdrew her hands and cupped them over her mouth. "Woohoo! Yeah!"

Marcel put his hands together in prayer and sighed blissfully. "You've saved me Professor Port. I'll never slack off in your classes ever again."

"What did you say!?" Pascal leaned over dramatically, striking a ridiculous pose while on the lap of Tamako. "This is the most shocking discovery!"

Marcel rolled his eyes and pushed his leader back to his seat. He couldn't help but snicker; however, he couldn't hear himself as the cheers grew louder.

_Beep! _"Augustus Valerius, the third!" Port's voice announced dramatically, emphasis on 'the third.'

Gasps were heard throughout the crowd as the platform elevated the next competitor out from below. Marcel looked to the screens above for a better image and choked on his popcorn. He quickly did a double-take between the screen and the actual competitor. 'Holy crap!" Tamako continued to munch quietly on her popcorn, but he could feel her hold on his sleeve tighten as more and more of the boy was seen.

Marcel looked to his left to see Lilly's eyes moving rapidly as if it were trying to keep up with a fly. A sly smile formed across his face. _Not talking so big anymore, are ya? _he thought to himself. But she had every right to be speechless. He looked back at the boy who was now waving towards the part of the stadium where visitors from Atlas sat. The guy looked as if he wrestled Ursi for as a hobby. On top of that, he was a walking arsenal; in his right hand was an enormous three-headed flail the length of a long sword, and in his left was a large steel shield. From the size of it and its distinct patterns, it was most definitely a Siege Shield. Siege Shields were multi-layered, dust-infused devices that were specifically built to withstand a Nevermore's projectile attacks. Marcel looked at the head of the student, which was hidden away by a spiked full-steel helmet with two black ominous eye holes. Over his tan and heavily scarred body, he wore a leather brassard, pleated skirt, and surprisingly, no shoes.

"Oh my god, just how many weapons does this guy have?" asked Lilly; her voice was a mix between fear and excitement.

Pascal nodded in agreement. "I fear for whoever's going up against that fellow!"

As Augustus made a complete circle by waving to all sections of the audience, Marcel spotted even_ more_ weapons. A trident was slung over his back, along with a bundle of javelins, a fishing net, and a lasso. Tied to the boy's belt were small jars the size of a baseball.

_Beep! _"Penny!" Port's voice announced, this time with less bravado.

The platform on the other side elevated the second contestant to the surface. A short dainty, orange-haired girl hopped off the platform and stared at it as it went below the surface again. "Wait a second," Marcel said slowly. "Guys? I'm not delusional, am I?"

"No, you're not," Lilly confirmed. "I'm seeing this too."

Penny skipped to the center of the stadium while stopping to wave enthusiastically at the crowd.

Marcel's head shook subtly as he focused his attention back on the challenger. The orange-haired stood on the left side of the stadium, so she must have been from Vale. She wore a plain toffee colored blouse that stopped at her thighs and wore black stocking that went up to right below her blouse. A small backpack was tied to her back, and her pink bow bounced up and down as she hopped to a few paces from Augustus and waved to him. The massive boy folded his arms.

"In this corner, representing the Kingdom of Atlas, we have Augustus Valerius the third! Fourth year and leader of team Antiquity (ATQY)." Augustus cracked his knuckles as he towered over his tiny opponent. "And in this corner, representing the Kingdom of Vale, we have Penny-" There were sounds of a piece of paper ruffling in the background, followed by Glynda's ever so recognizable sigh. "Erm, just Penny! She is not a student here at Beacon Academy, but is attending this year's tournament as a guest competitor!" The same microphone as before emerged from beneath the stadium, which the small girl grabbed first. "Penny, is there anything you'd like to say before the match begins?"

The orange-haired girl fixed the bow on her head quickly before pointing to herself with her thumb. A big, unsettling grin broke across her face. "I'm combat ready!" she announced, followed by a quick downwards salute to the Atlantean. The crowd laughed and whistled in response; even Tamako let a giggle escape her lips. Penny nodded and skipped over to Augustus and handed him the mic. "Here you go, big guy!" The massive student rested his flail over his right shoulder before accepting the mic with both hands.

"Augustus! Is there anything you'd like to say to Penny before the match begins?"

Augustus' voice was frightening: deep, rich, and powerful. The mic levels had to be turned down as he spoke. "I hail from Atlas. That being said, I hope you speak the truth!" He tossed the mic back into its stand before grabbing at the flail over his shoulder.

"Alright! Are there any questions, you two?" Both contestants shook their heads. "You have ten seconds to prepare!" Marcel crossed his arms and bit his lips as he watched with unease as Augustus cracked his neck left to right and flexed his massive biceps while Penny simply did jumping jacks in place.

"What is she doing? Where are her weapons?" Lilly said while massaging her temples; she was freaking out.

"No idea," Pascal said with a shrug. "But it seems that she's not the least bit frightened. Very odd."

Tamako took a sip from her bottled soda and then offered it to Marcel. "Oh, thank you." He took a sip and twisted the cap back on as the countdown went down. Like last time, the crowd's cheers filled the stadium once more with rigorous excitement.

_3-2-1._ "Begin!"

Augustus let out a roar as he charged towards Penny with his flail raised up high.

"He's fast!" Lilly blurted out. Penny took a defensive stance as she waited. Augustus, now in a full sprint, jumped into the air and brought his flail down with such force that it caused an even larger dust cloud than with Yang's blow. Out of the corner of his eye, Marcel saw the gold-haired girl stand up and put a hand over her eyes to block out the sun as she stared in amazement at the scene. As the debris cleared, Tamako let out a quiet gasp, and did many other around him. A vibrant green energy shield had stopped the giant's attack dead in its tracks. Behind it were a set of what appeared to be blades spinning rapidly in a circular motion.

There was a beep as a new screen of information appeared on the large screen in the air. Penny's weapon was called _Puppeteer; _it was classified as a _Pulse Powered Blade Garrote. _ Augustus' three-headed flail was named _Defiler_; it was classified as a _Retractable Multi-Action Flail. _

"Impressive!" Augustus' voice filled the stadium as hyper-sensitive microphones trained in on the competitors' voices. Marcel could hear his words clearly, just as if he were standing in front of him.

Augustus swung his shield towards Penny from the side, presumably hoping to catch her from the side. The girl quickly dispersed the shield and did a back flip and landed on his shield in a kneeling position, where she then extended her legs upward, launching herself into the air. Augustus swung his flail over his shoulder as he watched her land some ten feet on the opposite side. She swung her hands outwards and the crowd reacted noisily as the blades followed her movements and swung outwards. Marcel counted five blades on each side; there were a total of ten blades under the newcomer's control.

"Penny has successfully deflected Augustus' blow! Ladies and Gentlemen, what a surprise!" Professor Port said in bewilderment.

"How is she doing that?" Pascal asked.

Tamako tugged Marcel's sleeve again. "Huh, what is it?" She pointed to the large screen above where the camera zoomed in on a space between two blades. There was a small reflection."Wires...Wires! They're connected to the wires!" Tamako nodded and patted his head.

"So that's what it means by garrote," Marcel heard Lilly say with a disappointed sigh."I can't believe I didn't catch that."

As if holding a whip, Penny threw her left hand forwards, followed by her right. The swords followed her motion and snaked towards Augustus with frightening speed. Unfazed, Augustus charged straight into the attack. He knocked the left line away with his shield and the right line away with the lower half of his flail. With a surprised smile, she pulled her hands back as Augustus closed the distance between them. With impeccable timing, he somersaulted forwards, just before her blades were about to slash against his bare back. Penny extended both of her arms outwards and braced herself. Her fingers wiggled in anticipation as Augustus jumped out of his roll and swung towards Penny. Immediately both lines of blades came to her defense, but his blow forced her to skid back so far back that she nearly lost balance a few times before coming to a stop.

"You're strong!" Augustus bellowed, followed with a laugh as began to walk towards Penny. "Wonderful!"

Marcel found it amusing that Augustus called her that even though he never even looked at the information screens that were above him. Penny dusted herself off and dug the heels of her feet into the ground as she made a circular motion with her hands. The blades soon began to follow the same motion they were in to create the shield. Augustus stuck his shield into the floor and reached to his back to retrieve the bundle of javelins. He switched the javelins to his right hand while he switched the flail to his right. "Rah!" he shouted as he threw the first javelin towards Penny. It stuck to the wall behind her, a few inches shy of nicking Penny's shoulder. She looked behind her, then back at him and narrowed her eyes as the swords began to spin faster and faster, emitting the same glow it did when it deflected Augustus' first blow.

"Get her!" a voice from behind called out angrily. "Show her who's boss!"

Augustus needed no reminders as he threw the next javelin at her, only to be hit away by a lone sword that left the formation; it quickly returned to its spot afterwards. Before he could throw the third and final javelin, the glow that emiited from Penny's blades began to fade. Augustus immediately dropped the flail from his left hand and frantically fished the trident off of his back with his right and struck it into the ground. Penny drew her hands back slowly. Augustus then quickly dug his shield in front, and then shoved the third and last javelin into the ground behind him, putting his foot against the back of the shaft, just in time as Penny punched both of her fists forward. An ethereal green blast of energy shot forwards and straight into the center of Augustus' siege shield. Marcel covered his eyes as the impact of the blast against the shield caused a sonic boom of air to blast through the entire stadium. Napkins, plates, and even hot-dogs flew out of people's hands from the after effects.

Professor Port wasn't even speaking anymore, he was simply making unintelligible sounds that sounded a bit suggestive. Soon, the light faded away and cheers shot through the stadium once more as people saw that Augustus had survived the attack. The Siege Shield, along with the trident and javelin acting as anchors prevented him from being blown away by the blast. Augustus had also activated his aura which reinforced his standing endurance even more; the dark purple aura quickly faded away as he dusted himself off. The shield, along with the sand around were covered in soot from the immense heat of the blast. Penny shook her hands around as if she had just touched something hot before making her way towards him.

The Atlantean picked up his remaining javelin, and bounced it up and down in his hands as if pondering whether or not to use it. He looked at Penny, and then dropped it. The trident found its way back into his left hand while the flail back into his right hand. Penny looked at him with wide eyes and stopped dead in her tracks. As Augustus slowly lumbered towards Penny, she slowly began to step backwards.

"What's this? Augustus has abandoned his shield and is now going for pure offence!" Professor Port noted as Augustus charged towards Penny. He speedily threw a barrageattacks against the tiny girl; jabs with his trident and slashes with his flail. He continued to do so with increased vigor when she didn't counter any of his moves."What's this? Penny isn't retaliating at all! What's going on?"

"Yeah, what gives? She could totally be kicking his butt right now," Lilly said with a raised eyebrow.

"There has to be an explanation," Marcel said as she looked closer at Augustus' weapons. Trident. Three-headed flail. He clapped his hands together and snapped towards his team mates."His weapons! She's afraid that her wires will get tangled in his weapons!"

Tamako covered her eyes as Augustus landed his first hit on Penny with his three-headed flail, knocking her into the sand some ten paces behind. She shakily stood up and touched her chest where one of the flail's heads had hit her. She cracked her knuckles and positioned her arms back into a defensive stance. Her swords floated above her menacingly, as if waiting for orders, but they never came. Penny continued to stare at Augustus, who slowly grabbed a jar off of his belt. He brought it up to his brassard and struck it against the top, igniting a wick. He chucked it at Penny at full strength who quickly sent her blades up to deflect it. Upon impact, the jar exploded; its mystery contents revealed as explosive powdered dust. As the smoke cleared, Penny was yanked forward abruptly, causing her to fall straight on her belly. Augustus' lasso had found its way around one of Penny's swords on her right side.

"Augustus has gotten a hold of Penny through the use of a simple, yet effective decoy!"

"That sneaky bastard!" Lilly said with a laugh. "That explosion was just a distraction!"

Pascal frowned. "Women who swear aren't attra-"

Lilly twisted his arm and pulled his face to hers. "Ba-s-tard," she said as she sounded out the word slowly and with great enunciation.

Pascal grimaced as he let out a defeated sigh. "Such beauty," he responded sarcastically.

Marcel rolled his eyes before looking back at the fighters. Augustus struck his trident into the ground and wrapped his leg around it using it as an anchor once more as he began to pull Penny towards him with both hands on the lasso. Penny gritted her teeth as she began to be dragged on her stomach.

She quickly got back on her two feet and slammed her left hand against her side, causing the blades the stab deep into the ground. The microphone amplified the petite girl's gasp as she was continually pulled forward; Augustus' strength was simply unbelievable.

In desperation, Penny lifted her left hand up and punched it forward, sending her blades straight for Augustus massive torso. In a cringe-worthy act, the Atlantean caught the first blade with his bare hand and tucked it underneath his arm as he continued to pull the Puppeteer even closer to him. Blood dripped on to the sand as he cried out in pain.

With both of her weapons effectively tied to Augustus, Penny struggled as she tried to pull her blades out of her opponent's grasp, but it was too late. She was now an arm's length away from her opponent, who reached out a massive hand and grabbed her around the neck. Now with a struggling Penny in his arms, Augustus tucked both the lasso and the blade underneath the same arm while he proceeded to put her into a choke hold with his other arm. Spectators began to scream wildly; their responses were mixed and emphatic.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

"Kick her ass, Augustus!"

"Hey what the hell, man? She's on our side!"

"Penny! Penny! Penny!"

Augustus struggled to remain on his two feet as he tightened his squeeze around Penny's neck. "Yield, daughter of Vale!" Augustus yelled through gritted teeth. "What say you, puppeteer?" More blood dripped down his side from where the sword was embedded, causing Tamako to turn away in discomfort. Even Lilly recoiled slightly from the sight.

Penny looked as if she were about to faint at any moment; her eyes were drooping, and her swords were barely levitating above the ground.

"Oh dear," Professor Port lamented loudly, "Penny seems to be losing consciousness! Is this the end of our guest competitor's journey at the Vytal Festival Tournament?"

She gritted her teeth as she reached for Augustus' belt. Marcel exhaled loudly as he realized what she was trying to do. Penny inched forward, missing by inches. She tried again, swinging back and forth, trying to build up momentum with each try. Augustus' hold on Penny loosened even more as her movement tore up the wound at his side. At last, she grabbed hold of a jar on his belt, and with one swift movement, struck the top of it against Augustus' brassard, which ignited the wicker. Augustus groaned as he watched the jar fall at his feet while Penny fought her way out of his grasp, and curled into a ball as it went off. The blast knocked Augustus several yards back where his helmet rolled off, revealing him to have short, mahogany colored hair.

Penny jumped out of her curled position and onto her two feet with triumph as she looked back at the black crater in the sand. The wires that connected her blades to her backpack had been severed in the blast; she now walked over to where they lay and picked them up. Her shoulder slumped as she inspected them, but turned around quickly when she heard the grunts of Augustus, who was desperately trying to get back up on his feet as the electronic counter started to beep.

She scooped up the fishing net that had fallen off of his back from the explosion and opened it like a blanket. With a simple toss, it landed over his torso and she playfully kicked him so he fell back onto the ground. She sat on his stomach, rested her elbows against her knees, and rested her chin again against her open palms. "So," she said with a happy sigh, "combat ready. Yes or no?"

Augustus groaned as the electronic counter went from _8-9-10_. With the quietest sigh, the Atlantean clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth before letting his head fall back against the sand. With a small smile, he closed his eyes.

"Ab-so-lute-ly incredible Ladies and Gentlemen!" Port announced with genuine amazement. "Penny, a contestant with no previous record with any sort of tournament has defeated Augustus, the leader of Team ATQY himself! Give her a round of applause!"

Penny jumped off Augustus and attempted to curtsy; halfway through, she abruptly stopped and her face became bright pink; her blouse was too short for a curtsy without being too revealing, so she quickly resorted to an awkward bow. Marcel watched a larger group of medics arrive to the boy and struggle to get him onto the stretcher while they began to treat the wound on his side.

"Well," Pascal said with eyes wide open. "I definitely did not see that coming."

"Unbelievable! Simply astounding! The Kingdom of Vale is two for two at this very moment with two victories in a row! We have seen the might and power of Mistral and Atlas, but we have yet to see Vacuo! There will be a quick five minute intermission so don't be gone for too long, the show will go on!" Port cleared his throat before the microphone turned off.

"I can't believe she won," Lilly uttered with disbelief. "I know she's from Vale, but Augustus should have totally won."

"She was very close to losing, might I remind you," Pascal added in as he stretched in his seat. "While I do think both of those contestants are very skilled, she seemed to have gotten lucky with that stunt she pulled in the very last seconds."

Marcel murmured in agreement as she watched the orange-haired girl walk over to an assistant and point to herself with a shrug. The assistant seemed to smile, but pointed to the sideline where Yang was sitting. With a big smile, she nodded to the assistant and skipped over to where Yang was sitting. To his surprise, the gold-haired girl stood up and gave the girl a high five. _Wow, they know each other?_ Marcel thought to him with amusement. _Small world_.

He leaned back in his seat, and covered his eyes with both of his hands. What was significant about this battle? Who was more skilled? Who underestimated who, if any? These questions raced around in his mind. He frowned and pulled his hands down against his face. Was there anything to analyze in the first place? It was Lilly and Pascal who always lectured on him that there was always something significant to take from watching a fight. Maybe he really did "lack the eye for this sort of thing," according to Lilly. He sighed. Or maybe it was because he was running on fumes; a result of a not eating breakfast and a severe lack of sleep. _Damn nightmares_.

Something touched his side. Marcel let his hands fall from his face and looked over. In both of her hands, Tamako had a _steaming_ hot dog that was dressed with chili and cheese. She pushed it closer to him and smiled.

"Where the hell do you keep getting these things?"

* * *

**Author's Notes**

This chapter was a lot of fun to write! I definitely enjoyed myself when imagining the titan _Augustus Valerius III _go up against a small, ginger girl, haha. Also, if you haven't already noticed, I wanted the interactions between team Platinum to have an 'anime' feel to it. While it is realistic, there are elements of comedy and exaggeration that make it more lively.

**Team Antiquity (ATQY)**

Augustus Valerius III is to allude to the powerful and majestic image of the Roman Gladiator. Playing on the ideal of people who "hail from Atlas," I wanted a contestant that completely towered over Penny. While she's small, demure, and conceals her weapons, Augustus is physically massive, and is literally covered in weapons. He is a near complete opposite of Penny in terms of physical appearances. As for his character, I didn't feel like writing him as a over-confident competitor in the tournament. (As you will see in future chapters, the overly-confident and rude competitors will be paired up with certain characters.) Instead, I wanted to make Augustus respectful and keen. He respects his challengers and keeps his mouth about any thoughts or predispositions until he has seen it for himself. He is also a great role model for current and aspiring Huntsman and Huntresses.

**As always, please leave a review: anything and everything helps!**


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